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Seven priests of the archdiocese are celebrating their 50th anniversary of priesthood this year.
They are Msgr. Hugh Corrigan; Father Harry Burke; Father Alfred Croke;
Father Joseph Komonchak; Father William Martin; Father John Monaghan;
and Father Edward O’Neill.
Five of the jubilarians were ordained by Cardinal Spellman in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on June 1, 1963, after studying for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.
Msgr. Corrigan and Father Komonchak were ordained on Dec. 18, 1963 in Rome where both had completed their studies for the priesthood at Pontifical Gregorian University.
Msgr. Hugh Corrigan has served as pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Yonkers since 1987. He also served as regional vicar of Yonkers, 1993-2011. He served as chairman of the sociology department at Cathedral College, Douglaston, where was also a faculty member for 14 years, 1973-1987. He served as parochial vicar at St. Charles Borromeo parish in Harlem, 1964-1973, and as assistant chaplain at Willowbrook State School on Staten Island in the summer of 1964. He was named a monsignor in 1995.
Father Harry Burke, a senior priest since 2012, has served on the faculty of Cardinal Hayes High School, the Bronx, since 1973.
He served as parochial vicar of St. Ann parish, Manhattan, 1967-1973, and associate chaplain of Bronx Municipal Hospital, 1967. He was a parochial vicar of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary parish, Manhattan, 1963-1967.
Father Alfred Croke retired in 2002 and resides at the John Cardinal O’Connor Clergy Residence, the Bronx. He had served as pastor of St. Aloysius parish, Livingston Manor, 1996-2002. He served as pastor of St. Sylvia, Tivoli, 1990-1995, and as administrator there in 1989. He served as a chaplain in the U.S. Army, 1968-1989, during which he was a writer for the Pacific Edition of Stars and Stripes. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Bronze Star and the Soldier’s Medal for his service in Vietnam. He was as an advocate and procurator in the archdiocesan Tribunal, beginning in 1967; and a parochial vicar at St. Bernard parish, Manhattan, 1963-1968.
Father Joseph Komonchak, who retired in 2009, is a professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was named to the faculty of Catholic University in 1977 and in 1996 he inaugurated a new academic chair in religious studies there. A specialist in the history and theology of the Second Vatican Council, he was the English-language editor of a five-volume history of Vatican II. In 1981-1982, he served as a scholar-in-residence at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was appointed to the faculty of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, in 1967. After a summer assignment as parochial vicar at SS. Peter and Paul parish, Mount Vernon, he served as parochial vicar of St. Bartholomew parish, Yonkers, 1964-1967.
Father William Martin, who retired in 2010, was a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, 1982-1996, serving in the United States and Korea. In 1996 he joined the staff of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, a Catholic lay organization headquartered in Kansas City, Kan. that sponsors children and elderly persons of developing countries worldwide. He was a faculty member at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, beginning in 1966, and served as a parochial vicar at St. Mary of the Assumption parish, Katonah, 1963-1966.
Father John Monaghan, a faculty member at Cardinal Spellman High School, the Bronx, beginning in 1964, has served the school in a number of capacities, including teaching religion, Latin, English, communication arts, film, photography and television production; directing the audio/visual center and overseeing the computer education program. He served as administrator of Holy Name of Mary parish, Croton-on-Hudson, beginning in 1986. The summer after ordination, he served as a parochial vicar of Sacred Heart parish in Barrytown.
Father Edward O’Neill, who retired in 2012, had served as parochial vicar of St. Vito’s parish, Mamaroneck, since 1985. He also served as parochial vicar at the following parishes: St. Elizabeth’s, Manhattan, 1985-1995; St. Gabriel’s, New Rochelle, 1980-1985; St. Mary’s, Mount Vernon, 1979-1980; Notre Dame, Manhattan, 1973-1979; St. Pius X, Scarsdale, 1969-1973; and St. Charles Borromeo, in Harlem section of Manhattan, 1963-1965. He was chaplain of St. Joseph’s Home, Peekskill, 1965-1969.
